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ADDRESS, 

DELIVEKED BEFORE THE 

PHRENAKOSMIAN SOCIETY, 

OF 

PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE. 

Bt WILLIAM B. SPKAGUE, D. D. 



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AN 



ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED ON THE 9th OF AUGUST, 1865, 



BEFORE THE 



PHRENAKOSMIAN SOCIETY 



PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE, 



GETTYSBURG. 



By WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D., 

OF ALBANY, N. T. 







•'/ 



ALBANY : 

VAN BRNTHUYSEN's STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 

18G5. 



ADDRESS. 



YouNa Gentlemen : 

The circumstances in which we meet are so 
peculiar that I know you will pardon a brief allu- 
sion to them. It is now, I believe, somewhat 
more than two years and a half since I was hon- 
oured, by the Society here assembled, with an 
invitation to address them at their next succeeding 
anniversary. That invitation I cheerfully accept- 
ed ; and it is due to candour to say that I accepted 
it, not merely in the hope of being able to say 
something that might, in some way, subserve the 
interests ^ of those whom I should address, but 
because I should thereby be brought, for the first 
time, into a part of the country in which I have 
felt a deep interest from my early years, and into 
a circle in which I should recognize some very 
dear and honoured friends. But, after I had made 
the requisite preparation for meeting you, the 
startling intelligence came to us that Gettysburg 
was threatened with invasion by a hostile army ; 



and I need not say that this was but the harbinger 
of the yet more, startling tidings that a fearful 
battle was in progress here ; — a battle which, as 
it has turned out, must always form one of the 
terrors and one of the glories of History. You 
were kind enough to renew your invitation to me 
to address you the following year ; and this again 
I accepted, — and the more readily, as no change 
had occurred to render inappropriate what I had 
designed to say to you the year before. But strange 
enough, within less than forty-eight hours of the 
time when I expected to commence my journey 
hither,^as if the Rebel General were determined 
to vent his spite against you or me, the news came 
to me that my services would not be required, as 
you were scattering to your several homes in the 
prospect of another hostile attack ; though, thanks 
to a Gracious Providence, the raid then threat- 
ened was not suffered to take effect. Another 
year has passed ; and your courtesy, which seems 
to have no limit, has again renewed the invitation, 
notwithstanding the result of your previous appli- 
cations had associated me in your minds with 
nothing but disappointment. I resolved that I 
would still make another effort to come ; but, on 
referring to the preparation I had previously made 



for meeting you, I found that it contemplated a 
state of things as remote from what now exists as 
war is from peace. Instead, however, of com- 
plaining of the additional labour which this dis- 
covery has imposed upon me, I thank God, with 
all my heart, for the auspicious change in which 
the necessity has originated ; and let me say I 
congratulate both you and myself that our long 
deferred meeting, though it takes place while the 
remembrances of scenes of carnage and desolation 
are still fresh and bitter, yet falls into a period 
when the Nation is at peace, and Treason has 
either sunk into a dishonoured grave, or is seeking 
a hiding place among the caves and dens of the 
earth. Discarding, therefore, what I had intended 
to say to you in each of the two preceding years, 
I shall hope to keep within the legitimate range 
of the present associations of the occasion, in 
presenting to you a few thoughts on the Mission of 
the Educated Mind of our Country^ as determined hy the 
present National Crisis. 

In speaking of the present crisis, you will of 
course understand me as referring to those features 
of our condition immediately consequent upon the 
passing off of that cloud which has been discharg- 
ing upon us its tempest of blood and fire during 



6 

the last four years. It is natural that our first 
thoughts should be of the glory of the change — 
no more armies girding themselves for deadly con- 
flict — no more gloomy forebodings in respect to 
the result of impending battles — no more reports 
of cities laid waste, of garments rolled in blood, 
of thousands of dwellings rendered desolate in an 
hour ; but, instead thereof, the voice of gladness 
and praise is heard all over the land that the 
bloody strife has ceased, and that we are still an 
undivided nation, — aye, and a stronger, healthier, 
better nation, by reason of the terrible discipline 
that has been administered to us. But if we will 
fully comprehend our actual condition, we must 
not stop here ; and a closer inspection will show 
us that, while the war has, as we have reason to 
believe, embodied the elements of enduring na- 
tional glory, it has also, in various ways, wrought 
a mighty amount of evil that needs to be correct- 
ed; has created demands for vigorous and well 
directed activity which it devolves upon the pre- 
sent generation to meet. And the greater respon- 
sibility rests upon men of cultivated minds ; for 
they have generally a deeper insight than others 
into human affairs, and a proportionally higher 
control of human conduct. Every one indeed, — 



no matter how uncultivated or obscure, — is bound 
to do what he can to meet the grand necessities 
of the day ; to secure to the country the substan- 
tial good which a Gracious Providence is proffering 
to it through the medium of its own calamities ; 
but, I say again, the leaders in the great work of 
reform, and purification, and elevation, must be 
men of thought and culture. 

Let me direct your attention, in the first place, 
to the fact that the educated mind of the country 
is the constituted guardian of the country's intel- 
lectual interests. During the long period of national 
prosperity which preceded the late convulsive 
struggle, our literary institutions were generally 
in a healthful state, and were moving forward in 
their legitimate work, unembarrassed by any 
untoward influences from without. But, with this 
fearful interruption of the nation's peace, there has 
come a corresponding derangement of every thing 
pertaining to the well-being of society ; — an evil 
in which our higher institutions of learning have 
taken a full share. Nearly all the Colleges at the 
South have, I believe, entirely suspended their 
operations ; not only from the fact that the regions 
in which they are situated had become the imme- 
diate theatre of bloody warfare, but because their 



officers as well as students were put in requisition 
for military service. And though our Northern 
Colleges have not suffered equally with the South- 
ern, yet they too have felt the disturbing influ- 
ence ; and not a few of their students — patriotic 
and brave young men — have withdrawn tempo- 
rarily from their studies, for the sake of enlisting 
in their country's defence. Your own College has 
had an experience on this subject of perhaps a 
more strongly marked character than any other. 
You have been subjected not only to protracted 
suspense and alarm, but to actual dispersion, from 
the approach of an invading army ; and some of 
you, I doubt not, were witnesses to that terrific 
scene of slaughter that electrified with horror the 
heart of the whole nation. It were absurd to sup- 
pose that, while war, war has been the all-absorb- 
ing theme every-where else, its disquieting, agita- 
ting influence should not have penetrated our 
literary institutions ; and, just in proportion as it 
has found its way into them, it has acted as a check 
upon their legitimate operations. In addition to 
this, many young men, who, but for the war, would 
have been passing through a collegiate course, 
have volunteered to enter the army, and take 
their chance among the hardships and perils of 



9 

military life. And I must not omit to add that, 
while our seminaries have been thus interfered 
with in respect to their internal operations, Phi- 
lanthropy has been so pressed with claims of more 
immediate urgency, that she has naturally enough 
suspended, in a great degree, her former helping 
ministrations to the cause of learning; though, in 
making this remark, I am glad to say that Yale 
College and one or two others have been favoured 
exceptions.* And the evil of which I speak has 
not been confined to our educational interests — 
many scientific researches have been arrested, 
many plans of public improvement have been 
postponed, many projected works in the different 
departments of human knowledge have been kept 
back, because the Nation's mind has been tasked 
to its utmost capacity in determining and apply- 
ing the means of our national preservation. 

Now is it not manifest that a vast amount of 
care and labour is necessary to restore the equili- 



*I was not aware, until after this Address was delivered, that Penn- 
sylvania College was among these exceptions. During the past year 
no less than eighty thousand dollars have been contributed to its 
funds. Of this sum twenty thousand have been given for founding a 
Professorship, by the Rev. J. E. Graefp; and twenty thousand more 
for founding another, by the Messrs. Ockeehausen, — examples wor- 
thy of all praise. 
2 



10 

brium of the Nation's intellect, and to bring again 
into successful operation the requisite agencies for 
its development and progress ? First of all, let the 
young men whose educational advantages and 
acquisitions have been contracted through the 
pressure and agitation of the times, resolve that, 
by greater diligence and more concentrated effort, 
they will speedily make up for all that they have 
lost. Let those, who are charged with the instruc- 
tion and management of our literary institutions, 
gird themselves, under an increased sense of 
responsibility, for nobler achievements in the 
cause of education, endeavouring at once to elevate 
the general standard, and render more perfect the 
various details. Let those, whom God has blessed 
with wealth as well as intelligence, account it at 
once a privilege and an honour to make large 
offerings to the cause of general improvement, 
and especially to elevate the character of our Col- 
leges and increase the facilities of liberal educa- 
tion. Let the intelligent community at large be 
quickened to a higher sense of the importance of 
the general diffusion of knowledge ; and let those 
cultivated minds which have had their particular 
fields of labour, — now that they have cut loose 
from a four years' bondage, — be more active than 



11 

ever in penetrating into the secrets of nature, or 
in perfecting themselves in any other departments 
of knowledge to which they have been devoted. 
Let many of our young men,\who have enjoyed 
an academic training, direct their attention to the 
South, as a most promising field for useful activity; 
and over that ground, which has been so tho- 
roughly harrowed and broken, let them scatter 
the seeds of knowledge, in prej)aration for a rich 
harvest in the next generation. And may I not 
add, let the requisite jDrovision be made for edu- 
cating that immense throng of minds, now, in the 
providence of God, delivered from bondage, so 
that, wherever their lot shall be cast, they may 
be prepared to exercise, with intelligence and 
dignity, the rights of freemen. Let the war be 
followed by such a state of things as this, and we 
shall not have to wait long to see the intellectual 
character of our country not only relieved from 
the burden that has ojDpressed it, but assuming 
grander proportions and a brighter hue from our 
having been so long in the furnace. 

But, while the intellectual interests of the coun- 
try have been subjected to a terrible ordeal, and 
have actually suffered not a little, in some 
respects, in this long continued struggle, let it not 



12 

be forgotten that, in other respects, the influences 
have been propitious ; and that, if part of the ser- 
vice to which we are called is to heal or avert, 
another part is to direct, develope and mature. 
Though the mind of the nation has been neces- 
sarily diverted, in no small degree, from interests 
purely intellectual, its condition has been any 
thing else than one of indolent repose — its facul- 
ties have been aroused to unaccustomed effort — 
it has been grappling with questions involving 
the Nation's life or death — even the most unculti- 
vated and unreflecting have found new thoughts 
flowing into their minds from sources that have 
never before been open to them ; and all classes, 
high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, 
have been quickened into a habit of greatly increa- 
sed mental activity. Now, since the times have 
changed, our thoughts necessarily take other direc- 
tions ; but what we have to do is to see to it that 
we do not sufler ourselves to yield to the reaction 
too often consequent upon effort, and thus lose the 
benefit of a healthful excitement. Let the invigo- 
rating influence, that has been so universally dif- 
fused, still be retained among us, and, though 
operating in new channels, let it operate with 
undiminished power. Let it circulate freely 



13 

through all the pores of society, thus clothing the 
Nation with a sort of new life, that shall be a cer- 
tificate to the world of its having undergone an 
intellectual renovation. 

And yet another thought, worthy of being pon- 
dered in this connection, is, that, during these 
years of darkness, there has been accumulating a 
vast amount of material, that may be, ought to be, 
turned to good account in aiding our future intel- 
lectual progress. It would be difficult to designate 
a period throughout all history, in which the 
developments of the common humanity have been 
more strikingly and strangely significant, or the 
teachings of Divine Providence more varied and 
impressive, than that which has just now closed 
upon us in the return of peace. Let the historian 
arrange these facts in a faithful and luminous 
record, which shall form a study for the genera- 
tions to come. Let the philosopher show us how 
these same facts illustrate some of the great prin- 
ciples of the Divine Government on the one hand, 
and the tendencies and capabilities of human 
nature on the other. And let men of all classes 
make themselves familiar with the appalling his- 
tory, not for purposes of mere speculation or 
curiosity, but that they may thereby enlarge their 



14 

field of thought, and acquire a fresh stimulus to 
mental activity. Thus will the Nation's mind 
receive an impulse, which we may reasonably 
regard as the pledge of harmonious and enduring 
growth. 

Passing from the intellectual, let us glance, for 
a moment, at the moral and religious interests of 
the country, as they come under the guardianship 
of our educated men. Of course I limit myself here 
to men of high moral princijDle, men in whose char- 
acters the Christian virtues shine forth in their 
purity and elevation — for a liberal culture, asso- 
ciated with a perverse disposition, only increases 
the power for evil ; while, on the other hand, 
when found in conjunction with a pure heart, it 
is proportionally prolific of good. Thanks to 
Divine Providence that so many of our most cul- 
tivated minds, in all the walks of public useful- 
ness, have bowed to the influences of a living 
Christianity, and are examples, not only of intel- 
lectual vigour and efficiency, but of earnest devo- 
tion to the cause of truth and goodness. Nor 
should it be forgotten that one entire profession, 
— I mean of course the Christian ministry, — who 
are set apart for the very purpose of making the 
world better, are, or ought to be, men, whose 



15 

ininds, if not cast originally in a superior mould, 
have at least been disciplined by a thorough edu- 
cation. The work of moral and religious reform, 
of which I here speak, is a work for the whole 
Church, and every member of the Church, to 
engage in — and yet even here the cultivated mind 
is found to take the lead — yes, even grace itself 
usually achieves its grandest triumphs, when 
walking hand in hand with the well developed 
powers of nature- 

That the interests of virtue and religion in our 
country have suffered greatly, during the last four 
years, must be apparent, whether we contemplate 
the result as already manifest, or trace the bale- 
ful influences by which that result has been accom- 
plished. War, in its very nature, involves crime 
of the deepest dye. Those, on whom the respon- 
sibility of it ultimately rests, — whatever may be 
the verdict of their fellow men concerning them, 
— are really chargeable, in the eye of Heaven, 
with murder, on a scale of appalling magnitude. 
And while war is in itself a most grievous offence 
against both God and man, it involves, in its pro- 
gress, temptations to various forms of moral evil, 
which none but the most watchful and resolute 
successfully oppose. Even those who are thor- 



16 

oughly imbued with the evangelical spirit, and 
have openly pledged themselves, by a Christian 
profession, to live a godly life, are too often over- 
powered by the adverse influences that beset them ; 
while those who are not thus fortified, especially 
those whose tendencies to evil had been previously 
restrained only through the influence of circum- 
stances, are almost certain to surrender themselves 
to some one or more of the forms of open vice. 
All this, as a host of witnesses will testify, has 
been strikingly illustrated in the war through 
which we have been passing. Not that this eff'ect 
has been universal; for our hearts have, from 
time to time, been gladdened by the tidings that 
the clangor of arms and the shouts of victory have 
been succeeded by the voice of thanksgiving and 
praise — and still more, that not a few, who were 
showing themselves valiant in their country's 
defence, were also enlisting as soldiers of the 
Cross ; and that this, in some instances, received 
the marked approbation of the oflicers in command. 
These are bright spots in the history that we love 
to contemplate; but we cannot doubt, notwith- 
standing, that a current of evil has been urging 
its way, in connection with our military opera- 
tions, through this whole period ; and that the 



17 

fearfully haggard and wo-worn appearance of 
many of our soldiers, released or escaped from 
Southern prisons, is but a fit emblem of the moral 
degradation and ruin into which many others have 
voluntarily plunged. 

But it is not merely in the march, the camp, 
the battle-field, that the spirit of evil has been at 
work, but in the outside management of things — 
in the selfish intrigues, the stupendous frauds, the 
positive thefts, that have been perpetrated, either 
directly or indirectly, upon the government, or 
upon the brave men who have been imperilling 
their lives to save the country. Let the men who 
have brought this deep stain upon the Nation's 
honour, never venture again to hold up their heads 
in the Nation's presence. Let the brand of igno- 
miny, which they bear about with them, remain, 
ineffaceable, to warn the world against a repro- 
duction of their base and horrible crimes. 

I must add that there has been an influence 
hostile to truth and virtue that has reached much 
beyond' those who have been directly engaged, 
either as military men or as civilians, in the pro- 
secution of the war. I will not speak here of the 
plans, worthy to have originated in hell, for lay- 
ing waste our cities by fire, and opening in each 



18 

a fountain of blood ; nor even of the tragical scene 
that struck horror to the Nation' s^I may saj to 
the World's — inmost heart ; but I will point you 
to demonstrations of a less flagrant character — I 
will ask you to contem23late the power of party 
prejudice, in originating the torrents of abuse and 
crimination that have been directed ao;ainst-men 
of the sternest integrity and the loftiest patriot- 
ism. Witness, too, the distrust of an over-ruling 
providence that has often been manifested, even 
by good men ; as if there were no agency on earth 
or in Heaven by which the country could be saved. 
And need I add that the war has been so prolific 
of subjects of thought and conversation, that have 
proved themselves all-absorbing, that the great 
concern of religion has been too often practically 
ignored; that, while some have found in this 
state of things an apology for neglecting their 
immortal interests altogether, others have suffered 
it to chill their devout affections, and relax their 
hold of spiritual objects, and thus obscure their 
evidences of Christian character. In some por- 
tions of the Church a different result, I know, has 
been witnessed ; but that the general fact has 
been as I have stated, admits, I believe, of no 
doubt. 



19 

Now, while we are to bear in mind that all the 
virtuous and good may find a legitimate sphere of 
labour here, I say again, it devolves especially 
upon the more enlightened of this class to take 
the lead in the great reformatory work — it is pri- 
miarily through their vigorous and well-directed 
efforts that we may expect to see the powers of 
evil among us neutralized, and a pure and healthful 
influence become at once intense and all-pervad- 
ing. This result is to be reached partly by direct 
action upon individual minds, and partly by puri- 
fying the public sentiment, and thus elevating the 
general standard of morals and religion. 

There is no department of society in which are 
not to be found great numbers of individuals, 
whose characters bear fearful testimony to the 
corrupting influence of the war ; and each of these 
is a legitimate subject for the reforming influence 
of which I speak. Let not the most gifted and 
cultivated think it beneath them to drop the word 
of counsel or warning upon the ear of the dis- 
charged soldiers, who, in serving their country, 
have contracted habits that threaten ruin to them- 
selves ; for who can tell but that a word thus fitly 
spoken may be the medium through which the 
almighty power and grace of God may work to 



20 

refashion the inner, as well as to reform the outer, 
man. Let Christian Benevolence recognize as her 
appropriate subjects all upon whose characters the 
war has acted as an influence for evil, and if her 
mission be wisely performed, it is reasonable to 
expect that the blessing of God will follow in her 
footsteps. I would that the sense of personal 
responsibility in reference to this subject were 
diffused through all classes of our educated Chris- 
tian men all over the land; and I am sure the 
result would be that we should see a process 
speedily inaugurated by which not a small part 
of the moral desolation consequent upon the war 
would be repaired. 

But there is another and a more general way in 
which the intelligent Christian mind of the country 
is to operate in securing this result — it is by crea- 
ting a more healthful moral and religious senti- 
ment ; by impressing all classes with the dignity 
of truth and virtue, and holding ujd error and vice 
to their merited odium. Only let these opposite 
qualities hold their proper place in the public 
thought and feeling, and you have the best pro- 
vision possible for the triumph of the right, at 
least in all that pertains to the outward life. Let 
every agency then be put in requisition that can 



21 . 

be, for securing this grand result. Let not only 
the puljDit but the platform, the press, and espe- 
cially the College, each prove itself an efiicient 
helper in enlightening the public mind, in quick- 
ening the public conscience, in purifying the pub- 
lic heart. Let all the instrumentalities already 
existing for achieving a result so honourable and 
glorious be carefully preserved and kept in vigor- 
ous exercise ; and let others be added as the united 
product of wisdom and charity. In a word, let the 
religious element become far more prominent in 
our national being — let it be our highest ambition 
to see a pure, living, almighty Christianity estab- 
lishing her gracious reign throughout all our 
borders. 

There is another class of interests for which 
our more cultivated minds must be held chiefly 
responsible — I mean the social and civil. If, indeed, 
the due culture of the intellect and the heart is 
secured, we have all that is necessary to the well 
being of the State and of society ; for there are no 
relations upon which the combined influence of 
intelligence and virtue does not act both benignly 
and powerfully. Still this is a point of so much 
moment, especially in its present bearings upon 



22 

our own country, as not only to justify but require 
distinct consideration. 

In the struggle just past, our institutions have 
received a shock so convulsive that the fact of 
their having triumphantly survived it may well 
make them fearless of every earthly power. This 
goodly Union, constituted by the wisdom and 
energy, and sealed with the blood, of a past gene- 
ration, has been ruthlessly assailed— those who 
hated it looked at it as only a thing of the past, 
while many who reverently and gratefully cher- 
ished it, feared that its death-knell would quickly 
be sounded. The effort thus made to rend asunder 
what our fathers and the God of our fathers had 
so fitly joined together, has indeed proved utterly 
unsuccessful. The Union stands to-day on a ten- 
fold firmer basis than if the battle of Gettysburg, 
and a hundred other battles, had not been fought, 
and we are nominally a Nation at peace. Never- 
theless there are wounds in at least a portion of 
the Nation's heart, still bleeding, — perhaps fester- 
ing — the hand has let the sword drojD, because it 
must ; but the spirit that wielded it is not yet 
broken. Now, the great problem that urges itself 
upon the thoughtful and earnest mind, is, How 
the smothered fires are to be extinguished ; how 



23 

the virulence of sectional or party hate is to be 
neutralized ; how men who have faced each other, 
with the weapons of death, upon the battle field, 
are to meet in the goodly fellowship of devotion 
to a common country. The Nation must not 
indeed let go its dignity, or abjure the claims of 
public justice, even in the cause of conciliation-^ 
but every sacrifice short of this should be promptly 
and cheerfully submitted to ; and our brethren 
should be made to feel that, on returning cordially 
to their allegiance, they and we resume the 
friendly relations of other days. I say then, let 
those who exercise control, — whether in a wider 
or more limited sphere, — exalt the virtue of mag- 
nanimity, not only with their lips but in their 
lives. 

Another point of vital moment to our national 
weal, and of course to be kept constantly in view 
by the educated mind, is a practical recognition 
of the supremacy of law. We are to see to it, 
first, that the laws are good and equitable ; and if 
any of a different class still linger in our statute 
books, let the public conscience be pressed with 
the obligation to cancel them ; and let nothing 
remain that will not stand the test of immutable 
right. And then, let our National or State Code, 



24 

— thus exjDurgated, if need be, — be universally 
recognized as a binding authority. Let the man 
of gray hairs reverence it. Let the man, whose 
relations in business have grown complicated and 
difficult, reverence it. Let the man of wayward 
tendencies and habits be made to tremble before 
it as a mighty retributive power. Let men in 
high places, who spurn its restraints, and would 
fain trample on its provisions, have the alterna- 
tive placed vividly before them of submitting to 
its authority or being crushed by its weight. Let 
the mind, in its first developments, yes, let even 
childhood itself, be imbued with a reverent regard 
for law ; and let the sentiment be all the time 
growing stronger as the years pass away. In the 
establishment, especially in the faithful observ- 
ance, of righteous laws, justice is enthroned and 
honoured — surely an object so identified with our 
social and national well-being ought to secure 
universal and hearty co-operation. 

Another point to which our men of education 
and influence are bound to give special attention, 
is the selection of suitable persons to occupy the 
high places of civil trust and authority. Nothing 
is more damaging to the interests of a State or a 
Nation than to have the management of its affiiirs 



25 

entrusted to incompetent or unworthy men. A 
weak ruler, though he may be honest, cannot be 
trusted ; for his shortsightedness may, in spite of 
his good intentions, commit him to a course that 
will be fraught with peril, or even ruin. A ruler 
of great shrewdness and intellectual force, but of 
selfish aims and doubtful patriotism, will inevita- 
bly prove an incubus upon his country's prospe- 
rity, possibly a curse through many generations. 
Our only safety is in placing the reins of govern- 
ment in the hands of those who unite both the 
requisite intellectual and moral qualifications ; 
who are alike quick to discern danger and firm to 
meet it ; whose great hearts are always impelling 
their great intellects in the right direction,- — that 
df national safety and glory. Let the doctrine be 
everywhere inculcated and enforced that not party 
spirit, but an honest, earnest love of country,- — 
not a mind contracted and one-sided in its views, 
but comprehensive, impartial, magnanimous, — 
should constitute one a candidate for high civil 
office, — and, in proportion as such views pre- 
vail, the men who aspire to office, as well as 
those who appoint to it, will be fitted to meet 
their several responsibilities. That good rulers 
are a blessing, and bad rulers are a curse, is indeed 
4 



26 

a truism; but that it may come with the authority 
to which its importance entitles it, let our most 
gifted and cultivated minds account it part of 
their mission to endeavour to impress it upon the 
mind and the conscience of the whole nation. 

Need I say that the measure of our national 
prosperity must depend, in no small degree, upon 
the character of our foreign relations ; and this 
again is a subject worthy to occupy our best 
endowed and most accomplished intellects. In 
our intercourse with foreign nations as truly as 
with each other, we are to recognize the great law 
of practical Christianity, — " Whatsoever ye would 
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them;" 
and just in proportion as any nation departs from 
this rule, it subjects itself to the peril and the 
odium of setting at naught the Divine authority ; 
and sooner or later its day of retribution will 
come. The fact cannot be dissembled that, during 
our late period of trial, the nations to which we 
were most nearly allied, not only withheld from 
us their sympathy, but, in some instances, made 
positive demonstrations towards us, that seemed 
like a joyous anticipation of the funeral of our 
Republic ; though we are to bear in mind that 
these expressions of coldness and hostility were 



27 

rather from the Government than from the peo- 
ple, and that a large portion of the inhabitants 
both of England and of France have been hearty 
well-wishers to the success of our cause. But 
Providence has disappointed the hopes of our ene- 
mies, on the other side of the water as well as on 
this ; and the time has at length come when our 
national banner, with "Victory" inscribed upon 
it, is floating in the face of the whole world. 
And now what course are we to pursue in respect 
to those who did all but send up shouts of triumph, 
in the prospect of our being a divided Nation ? Is 
it best to taunt them with their shortsightedness 
or their unfriendliness, and to assume towards 
them a stern and defiant attitude, as if in retri- 
bution for what we have received at their hands 
in our hour of darkness ? Our national dignity is 
indeed to be maintained; but God forbid that 
dignity should ever degenerate into mean revenge. 
Let us indeed profit by the lessons which this sad 
experience has taught us, but let nothing tempt 
us to any thing that is not generous and concilia- 
tory. Let those who preside over our periodical 
press, especially the editors of our most widely 
circulated newspapers, remember that their daily 
deliverances are for the British as well as the 



28 

American eye ; and that it is for them, more per- 
haps than for any other class, to decide whether 
the relations between the two countries shall be 
cordial and fraternal, or shall only come up to the 
point of a frigid decency, and, it may be, ulti- 
mately sink to the point of positive disruption. 
No nation is ever the loser for showing itself mag- 
nanimous, especially after having made full proof 
of its strength. 

Yet another thought I will venture to suggest 
here, as worthy to be pondered by those who have 
access to the springs of our national weal, — 
namely, that the work of reconstructing, reorgani- 
zing, to meet the newly created exigencies, should 
be proceeded with in great though tfulness and 
deliberation. The whole world knows that the 
American character is distinguished for a go-ahead 
spirit, that makes obstacles seem like playthings; 
and this occasionally degenerates into a headlong 
spirit, that plunges at a venture, and sometimes 
lands in the mire. Now the point which we have 
reached in our national affairs demands the most 
calm and mature reflection on the part of those 
who are entrusted with the direction of them ; 
and, admitting that they are fully impressed with 
this fact, it will require an iron strength of pur- 



29 

pose to resist the clamour for an impetuous haste. 
I will not say that the Nation is in any thing like 
a chaotic state ; for it remains, in all its essential 
elements of strength and grandeur, unimpaired ; 
but the shock to which it has been subjected has 
produced material derangement, and calls for 
legislation on points of great delicacy and diffi- 
culty, — points which are vital to its prosperity in 
all coming generations. Let our cultivated minds, 
then, — no matter what may be their profession or 
occupation,— pledge themselves to an effi^rt to 
prevent all indecent and dangerous haste in the 
decision of the great pending questions of national 
policy. Let the mind of the whole country dis- 
cipline itself to a calm* and waiting habit ; and 
then we may confidently expect that, at no distant 
period, we shall see light shining out of all the 
darkness in which the Rebellion has left us. 

It is not improbable that, as you have followed 
me in this train of thought, it may have occurred 
to some of you to ask, — "But what can J do to 
effect so vast an object as is here contemplated, — 
the elevation of the character and the destinies 
of the country ?" I answer, all influence is pri- 
marily individual influence ; and the influence of 
a Nation is nothing more than the combined influ- 



30 

ence of all who compose it. You, as an individual, 
especially as blest with the means of liberal cul- 
ture, can do much for your country in various 
ways — you can make yourself felt, as an instru- 
ment of blessing, intellectually, morally, socially, 
civilly — ^you can labour in your individual capa- 
city, and in conjunction with other capable and 
well-disposed minds ; and, though you cannot wit- 
ness the result, as you pass along, you may be as 
certain that a glorious result is being wrought out 
as that God's ordinance is unchangeable. It is a 
privilege to labour for the benefit of one's country 
at any time, or under any circumstances; but 
never is the privilege greater than when our efforts 
are directed to secure a harvest of blessing after a 
seed time of tears and blood. 

If, from all those who have passed away, I 
should select one to commend to your admiration 
for having proved himself a model of patriotic 
devotion during the recent conflict, I should pro- 
nounce the name of Edward Everett ; and here, 
at least, I am sure the selection would require no 
apology — for he was the man chosen out of all the 
living, to consecrate, in words of beauty and 
power, that vast resting place of the brave, that 
must always make Gettysburg one of the world's 



31 

great attractions. You all know that, in every 
station he has occupied, he has shown himself a 
man of mark. Those who had the charge of his 
education, as well as his associates in study, recog- 
nized in his versatile powers, and intense appli- 
cation, and varied acquirements, the germof his 
future eminence. The world heard of him first 
as the minister of one of the oldest Churches in 
Boston, — the successor of the illustrious Buck- 
minster; but his career as a clergyman, though 
splendid, was brief — he left the pulpit with a view 
to devote himself to the quiet pursuits of academic 
life. Next, we hear of him as gathering laurels 
at one of the most celebrated German Universi- 
ties; and then as travelling in different countries, 
associating with the most eminent men of the age, 
and visiting various places of classic renown. On 
his return home, he entered upon the duties of 
the Greek Professorship in Harvard College ; and 
here he shone out at once as a star of the first 
magnitude ; and the traditions of his extraordi- 
nary attainments in ancient learning still remain 
fresh in that venerable institution. In 1824, when 
that veteran General of our Revolution, Lafayette, 
was here, Everett, in an Address before the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society at Harvard, poured out a tor- 



32 

rent of eloquence in honour of the old patriot, 
that, of itself, would have given him rank among 
the most gifted orators of the age. But the time 
had now come for his introduction to a wider and 
more stirring scene of action. He was chosen a 
representative to Congress by the district in which 
he lived; and in this capacity he served with 
great ability and fidelity; though it must be 
acknowledged that Congress was not the best the- 
atre for the exercise of some of his finest powers. 
After ten years of Congressional service, he was 
recalled by his own State, to become its Chief 
Magistrate; and his administration, which was 
unusually dignified and popular, continued through 
a period of five years. In 1840 he was appointed 
Ambassador to the Court of St. James ; — a position 
rendered the more delicate from the fact that the 
relations between the two countries were, at that 
time, far from being harmonious ; but, through his 
great diplomatic skill, in connection with the 
urbanity and dignity that characterized all his 
movements, the tendencies to international dis- 
cord were effectually checked. On withdrawing 
from this post of honour in 1845, he was appointed 
to the Presidency of the College with which his 
name had already become so honourably associated ; 



33 

but though he brought to the office much of inte- 
rest and of energy, he soon grew weary of its 
details, and his failing health, at the end of three 
years, induced him to withdraw. He returned to 
civil life in 1852, discharging, for several months, 
to great acceptance, the onerous duties of Secretary 
of State in the National Government ; and the 
next year he represented his native State, with 
signal ability, in the United States Senate. In 
1854, yielding to bodily infirmity, he resigned his 
office as Senator, and, shortly after, enlisted in 
the truly patriotic project of purchasing, by pri- 
vate contribution, the former residence of the 
Father of his Country, to be preserved as an endu- 
ring national memorial. His success in this grand 
enterprise was as ample as his efforts were splen- 
did and persevering ; and there is scarcely a city 
in the land in which are not to be found those 
who have cherished memories of Everett's Oration 
on Washington. In this noble work he was enga- 
ged when the clouds in the Southern sky began to 
send forth a sound of portentous import, and it 
became but too manifest that a mighty rushing 
tempest was at hand. Mr. Everett had a host of 
friends scattered all over the South — and more 
than that, — on some great questions of national 



34 

policy in which they were deeply interested, he 
was well known to be in sympathy with them. 
But when he saw the threatening evils culminat- 
ing into a fearful war, and the decree went forth 
that the Nation was no more one but twain, then 
it was that his lofty, patriotic spirit took fire, and 
he became, both by his lips and by his pen, a 
leader in the great work of preserving our national 
fabric. The position, which he felt called to 
assume, disappointed and vexed his Southern 
friends ; and I had it from his own lips that plead- 
ing, flattering, even threatening, letters were 
addressed to him, with a view to turn his influ- 
ence in an opposite direction. But, notwithstand- 
ing his naturally quiet and gentle habit, he stood 
firm as a rock ; and, during the rest of his life, 
he scarcely knew any other occupation than that 
of labouring for the discomfiture of Treason and 
the deliverance of his country. His noble effort 
at the consecration of your Cemetery was only one 
of a host of efforts by which he helped to warm 
and strengthen the Nation's heart. His last great 
work — I refer to all that he did in connection with 
the war — was a fitting crown of his eminently 
useful and honoured life; and through all coming 
generations he will be gratefully and reverently 



spoken of as one of his country's chief bene- 
factors. 

I have said more of this illustrious man, per- 
haps, than I could have justified to my sense of 
propriety, had it not been that his patriotic elo- 
quence is so identified with the history of this 
place that his name must always remain here as 
a household word ; though I will not dissemble 
the fact that an intimate acquaintance with him, 
reaching back to our very early years, had pre- 
disposed me to avail myself of an occasion so hon- 
ourable as this to bear a grateful testimony in 
honour of his memory. And I am willing to hope 
that the glance which I have taken at his vast 
acquirements, his manly virtues, his life of cease- 
less and diversified occupation, and, above all, his 
devotion to his country in the time of her greatest 
need, may not be lost upon you; that it may be 
the means of quickening your aspirations, and 
giving a fresh impulse to your efforts, to accom- 
modate yourselves to the great national crisis 
which you are called to meet. 

I have endeavored. Young Gentlemen, as well 
a.s I could, to illustrate your obligations, in com- 
mon with tJiose of all our educated men, to be 
faithful to the interests of our country at this 



36 

promising, yet perilous, juncture ; to let all the 
influence you can command be rendered subser- 
vient to the greater stability and efficiency of our 
free institutions. But when I think where I stand, 
I am almost oppressed with the idea that I have 
been performing a work of supererogation ; for 
you are all the time in contact with objects and 
associations, mightier than any human voice to 
stir the patriotic spirit to its lowest depths. The 
buildings you occupy, the streets you traverse, 
the very breeze that fans you, — each and all point 
back to the terrible week, when the very Eagle, 
representing our liberties, seemed to have come 
down, covered with dust and blood. Above all, 
that vast receptacle of the dead, — the monument 
of stupendous crime, the spot where Loyalty and 
Treason held each other in iron grasp, until the 
monster's eyes became bloody, and his heart grew 
faint, and he ran off in a paroxysm of consterna- 
tion, if not of despair, — that enclosure of the dust 
of the brave, I say, is trumpet-tongued in its 
appeals for a vigorous support of the cause that 
has already cost so much. I know you cannot 
live on such a spot as this, and amidst such influ- 
ences as must always prevail here, without being 
ready, at a moment's warning, to meet any demand 



37 

that your country may make of you. Let this 
noble institution, that has grown up here in the 
very heart of natural loveliness and beauty, be 
thrice honoured, in view of the triumph of the 
right that was gained by her side. Let strangers 
that walk about her, as they think mournfully of 
the past, breathe forth the prayer that she may 
always be the stronger and the better for her 
baptism in blood. 



